A sealing mechanism comprises a support member forming part of the semiconductor producing apparatus which has a vacuum chamber, a rotation shaft rotatably received in the support member, and at least three seal rings axially spaced apart from each other between the support member and the rotation shaft to form a first fluid chamber close to the atmosphere and a second fluid chamber close to the vacuum chamber. The first fluid chamber is vacuumized to have a first pressure, and the second fluid chamber is also vacuumized to have a second pressure which is lower than the first pressure. The first and second fluid chambers work together to enhance the sealing performance of the sealing mechanism.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A combination of a vacuum chamber formed in a semiconductor producing apparatus and a sealing mechanism for sealing said vacuum chamber, said sealing mechanism comprising: a rotation shaft driven to be rotatable around its own axis and having an outer surface in the form of a cylindrical shape; a support member intervening between said vacuum camber and the atmosphere and rotatably supporting said rotation shaft to have said rotation shaft received therein, said support member having an inner surface in the form of a cylindrical hollow shape and first and second axial ends respectively extending in the atmosphere and said vacuum chamber, said inner surface of said support member being larger in diameter than the outer surface of said rotation shaft; a seal ring positioned between said rotation shaft and said support member to hermetically seal the gap between said rotation shaft and said support member; and a bearing positioned in the gap between said seal ring and said atmosphere, said rotation shaft being rotatably received in said support member through said bearing; said seal ring comprising an annular retaining member formed with an annular groove opening toward said atmosphere, and an annular spring member tightly received in said annular groove and retained and covered by said annular retaining member to resiliently solely bias said annular retaining member to expand radially outwardly in which said support member has an extension plane radially inwardly extending and flush with said second axial end, and in which said sealing mechanism further comprises an additional seal ring positioned between said rotation shaft and said support member in axial spaced relationship with said seal ring between said seal ring and said extension plane to seal the gap between said rotation shaft and said support member.
2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said additional seal ring comprises an annular retaining member formed with an annular groove opening toward said atmosphere, and an annular spring member tightly received in said annular groove and retained by said annular retaining member to resiliently bias said annular retaining member to expand radially outwardly.
3. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said sealing mechanism further comprises stop means for stopping said seal ring from moving toward said vacuum chamber with respect to said rotation shaft and said support member.
4. A combination as set forth in claim 3 in which said stop means is constituted by a ring fastened selectively to said rotation shaft and said support member to stop said seal ring from moving toward said vacuum chamber with respect to said rotation shaft and said support member.
5. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said sealing mechanism further comprises stop means for stopping said additional seal ring from moving toward said vacuum chamber with respect to said rotation shaft and said support member.
6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 in which said stop means is constituted by a ring fastened selectively to said rotation shaft and said support member to stop said additional seal ring from moving toward said vacuum chamber with respect to said rotation shaft and said support member.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
December 11, 2003
July 24, 2007
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